Staff-holder.



S. McDONALD.

STAFF HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 10.1913. RENiwED Aue. 16,1915.

Patented 001. 5, 1915.

lllillll.

@FFIQEQ sneeuwman.

Patented' oer. 5, 1915.

VAppneemea fried February 1o, une, serial ne. 747,454. Renewed. august 1e, 1915. serial ite. 45,8447.

T0 all whom t may concern.' y

Be it known that LSA-@Munn MCDONALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Louisville,2in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements `in Staif- Holders; and I do declare the following to be arfull, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to supports, and

' more; especially to'staff holders adapted for supporting an uprightrod or staff; and the object of the same is to form a support of this character capable of holding flag staffs, usually of bamboo, such as those employed on golf courses. .i ne stairs oi direction flags so used vary in sizes, and sometimes there will be a pluralitv of sizes used on one golf course, so that it becomes necessary tohave a plurality of staiffholders especially con structed to receive and support the" respective stalls. This is avoided by the use of my improved holder, which is adapted for quick adjustment to any staff within" limits.

The following specification sets forth details of construction, as shown in the drawings wherein- Figure l is a perspective view of this device complete. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section showing the staff in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Y

This device is by preference made entirely of metal.` properly treated to prevent rust, and its size will be that which is especially adapted to the particular use to which it is put. While I prefer to employ it for supporting the stai-'fs of direction flags on golf courses, the invention isof course capable of many other uses` and is especially designed to support upright tubular members of varying sizes. y

Coming now to the details of the present invention, the numeral 1 designates a pin, preferably of steel and preferably sharpened at its lower end as at 2 although this is not essential; but however said lower end is entered in or supported upon the ground, I prefer that the upper end be pointed as at 3.

The numeral 4 designates the upper member or socket as a whole, the same comprising a collar 5 at its lower end which is secured around the pin l and preferably brazed or soldered thereto as at 6, and three or more upwardly projecting arms 7 which diverge from each other just above the collar as at 8 and then extend substantially or nearly straight upward and are slightl\r curved in cross section to constitute jaws 9.

This socket-member is by preference also made of steel, being brazed at 6 onto the pin las above suggested if said pin is of steel, but if the pin. be ofsome other material any appropriate fastening means between the two members might be employed. As shown l -1 the upper pointed end of the pin l projects above the lower diverging portion 8 of the collar and between the yielding arms 4e of the staff holder, whereby the lower end of the latter may be forced downwardly along' thellength of said holder and upon the pin thus forcing said arms outwardly or from one another, it being understood however, that the clamp 10 is adapted to be adjusted along the arms of the socket to permit said l arms to be forcedY apart when the staff is Y inserted within the clamp. Thus it will be seen that when the stan`I has been inserted in the socket, as described, the clamp 10 m'av be adjusted along the length of the yielding arms of the clamp to hold the staii' in a rigid position with its lower end securely fixed upon the pin, all of which is HY' due to the construction of the lower diverging yielding portion of the socket upon -which the staff is forced. If the parts are outstanding extremities or ears 11 through which is passed a bolt or screw 12. However. I do not wish to be limited to any specific form of clamp, so long as one is present.

In use this device has its base seated on or pushed into the ground or other support, so that the holder will stand upright as seen in the drawings. The clamp is then loosened and run down on the socket member,

and the flag staff F passed into the then wide open jaws and pressed downward until its lower end 1s centered. within the socket member on the point 3. This will occur automatically and quickly if said stairis of" bamboo, which is the usual material employed for the staffs of direction flagson golf courses, but if not of bamboo it will be an easy matter to force a wooden flag stati' downward vonto the point 3. The clamp 10 is then slipped up on the socket member 4k until the upper extremities or j avv-ends 9 of the arms are borne inward to a suiiicient exf tent to grip the staff F in a manner which will be clear. vIt is therefore held at two to receive, and when this `statil is inserted therein' the clamp 10 must be expanded so that the jaws 9 may open wide or to a position where the arms 7 will stand inI parallelism with each other. When any smaller size of stair is inserted its lower extremity will center on the vpoint 3, but the clamp must be tightened up to bring the jaws into contact with the smaller staff.` In the form illustrated the clamp is obviously. tightened by setting the nut on the bolt 12, but I do not wish to be limited to the use of this form of clamp. Therefore, it will be seen that the use of the point?) at lthe upper end of the base member or within the lower end ofthe socket member obviates the necessity for any means `which would draw the armsA within the collar forming the lower end of said socket and having a pointed end Vadapted to project into the socket and above the;4

end or" the pin located therein and against -t'he diverging portions of the arms Yof said socket, said stati' willbeA rigidly held 'at a myhand in presence of two subscribingV witnesses. Y Y l :V SAMUEL MGDONALD.

Witnesses: f7 ANGELA C. HENnnssqy, e CL" C. JoYns.

4in the socket and forced upon the pointed" Copies of this patent may'be obtaind'for'ire cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

' Washington,D. C. Y 

